www.hippielight.com | The Vintage "Lava Lamp" Timeline | The Savoy & Continental Vintage Candle Powered Lava Lamp Designs by Lava-Simplex.

In the vintage years "lava lamps" were created to suit every single taste and every house style. Savoy and Continental lava lamps are very special as unlike all the other vintage "lava lamps", it was powered by a candle. In fact the whole base was disposable and featured a large candle. This particular model has been seen advertised in restaurant and commercial trade magazines which show where the creators wanted this piece to stand. I can just imagine these beautiful models placed in restuarants in the 1960s and the 1970s. Can you imagine a restaurant or night club with all of these on all the tables, perhaps an Imperial in the background and some Princess models on the wall for full effect.

Savoy and Contintental lava lamps were marketed for outdoor living that was in fashion. - "Use it anywhere... indoors or out... it's cordless and carefree". Each candle filled cup base provided 75 hours of candlelight perfect for plenty of bubbling.

Today, as these candle bases are no longer produced, household tealights are used. These lamps feature the Consort bottle and were one of many lava lamp designs to do so. Thank you to Brad for the iconic images of his Continental lamp below. Later on these wonderful models were simply known as Continental lamps. Vintage brochure material tell everyone to use it everywhere as it is cordless and care-free and even suggested use for patio use and lawn parties. These lamps were described perfect as a unique table accent for dinner parties.

The Continental was truly portable as it was cordless and really unique. These lamps are extremely elusive and rare to find. Each model was sold with two candle base units.

From a 1966 brochure, we can see this product was featured in 3 colours in 1966.

There were two metal body combinations: Silver base, collar and cap. Gold base, collar and cap. Please see details below:

Model: 3212: Gold Metalwork. Orange Wax. Yellow Fluid. Model: 3215: Gold Metalwork. Champ. Wax. Champ/ Mist. Model: 3216: Gold Metalwork. Red Wax. Clear Fluid.

Model: 3222: Silver Metalwork. Orange Wax. Yellow Fluid. Model: 3225: Silver Metalwork. Champ. Wax. Champ/ Mist. Model: 3226: Silver Metalwork. Red Wax. Clear Fluid. they were also gift boxed!

Replacement Candle units were $.75. (Bulk packed 24 to a carton) As the brochure material states, it only costs pennies to operate. This product was also featured in Happy Occasion pack. No: 3295. I'd love to see a Happy Occasion pack. Wouldn't it be so cool to give this as a gift to someone.

This pack contained 3 Champagne/ Champagne Mist bottles. This is a very rare colour combination and the bottles have a slightly misty appearance.

These bottles had 3 happy slogans written on the actual bottle: 1. Happy Birthday. 2. Happy Anniversary. 3. Happy Holiday. Replacement base unit candles were also sold separately for the product. Please see the graphic below. Savoy and Continental are purely candle powered.

www.hippielight.com | The Vintage "Lava Lamp" Timeline | The Earlier Savoy with decorative glass and metal clip base.

The images below are display a earlier and rarer form of Lava's Savoy Design which features decorative glass replacement candle bases, held in a place by a metal clip base. Images are the kind courtesy of, Michelle R. Yoder. There is also another version which features pineapple textured glass.

www.hippielight.com | Presents: The Executive Model 2700 by Lava-Simplex.

The Executive was yet another model that featured the Consort bottle, with a genuine walnut base desk set complete with two Eversharp ball point pens in swivel holders. The hardware was gold finished with Model 2702 with Orange lava base and yellow liquid. Model 2703 green and blue and model 2706 red lava base in clear liquid. It was described as: 'Magnificent Masterful Masculine'

There was another version of this lamp which features a 4.5 inch gold Justice figure on the left and one pen on the right. This was created to appeal to lawyers and solictors and was likely inspired by the fact that Hy Spector held a degree in Law from the John Marshall Law School. Justice Executives were offered in the same colours but were given the 2720 Series designation.

www.hippielight.com | The Enchantress | A Classic Timeless design by Lava-Simplex.

The Enchantress is simply a classic, first seen in the vintage years, and was a strong product even in the 1990s. The Enchantress is a simple 32oz vintage "lava lamp" featuring a dual two cone base and was offered in a satin gold finish. The cap of Enchantress is black plastic which has been sprayed gold to match the base. The Enchantress featured a very popular sister product featuring a dish of pretty plastic foliage named the Enchantress Planter. See the vintage Enchantress lava lamp below: Enchantress uses a 40w appliance bulb.

www.hippielight.com | The Lava-Simplex Enchantress Planter | With its hippie ring of flowers to cheer everyone up ...

Whilst we love all vintage "lava lamps", Hippielight's hippiest "lava lamp" would have to be the Enchantress Planter. Described in vintage "lava lamp" paperwork as "Comes complete with lovely, colourful artificial foliage" With its cool shape and based on the Enchantress design, the planter version features a dish at the mid-point of the base. This dish shipped with beautiful plastic flowers and leaves, giving the planter a stunning and yet beautiful array of greenery around the lamp.

The Enchantress Planter was inspired by Lava's 1966 Decorator model which is actually a much larger lamp, featured a porcelanized white enamel finish with gold flecking and did not feature any decoration in the tray. Commonly seen Enchantress Planter flowers seen in the images below are six white petal flowers, with tonnes of beautiful sunset orange closed flowers and some tiny little flowers too. Totally beautiful and complete with colourful and beautiful foliage.

What many people don't actually know is that Lava sold the Enchantress Planter with different flower rings, however it should be noted that end users used to make their own with plastic flowers too.

There are actually two kinds of Enchantress, a tall, sleek version that looks similar to Crestworth's Astro Mini aka Mathmos' Astro Baby and a more angled version. The tall sleek version also featured the option of fluffy Velva-Tone metal parts.

Both versions of the Enchantress featured Planter versions and came with their own flower ring. As a Christmas Gift Lava also provided an extra Christmas themed flower ring for customers over the festive period.

www.hippielight.com | Carlisle | The flow of a Vintage Carlisle lava lamp | Series 300 by Lava-Simplex.

Carlisle is an amazing vintage lava lamp design that features an amazing cone shape form, that is really different in style and fashion to any other piece of its time. Carlisle is a very simple design but extremely elegant. Carlisle combines the elegance of Century and Aristocrat, features the starlight holes as a beautiful touch to the base and the whole lamp is finished in a beautiful satin gold-tone. Carlisle was made in the USA and is a great vintage "lava lamp". Carlisle featured colour combinations such as: Orange/ Yellow, Green/ Blue and Red/ Clear. Carlisle was Series 300.

www.hippielight.com | Saturna - Spacey Design | A beautiful space inspired design by Lava-Simplex.

Saturna conjures all the thoughts of an alien spaceship or something magical like a wizard's hat. The Saturna was a 1970s "lava lamp" that featured a 32oz bottle just like the Carlisle and the Enchantress Planter. It looks really amazing and is a wonderful design. The base of Saturna (Model 400) is described as being "inspired by celestial bodies..." and the base resembes an alien space ship UFO base. Saturna is a beautiful and collectable vintage "lava lamp".

Below one can see a Saturna and see the lamp flowing, the base and the underside of the base. The Saturna looks wonderful next to the Aladdin "lava lamp". In fact they are one of the most magical looking "lava lamps" ever created. Please see the graphic below.

www.hippielight.com | The Beautiful Aladdin Vintage lava lamp design by Lava-Simplex.

Aladdin is the only vintage "lava lamp" that you get three free wishes with. Seriously, it is a magical design that utilises 32oz "lava lamp" bottles and creates a very beautiful magical look with its curly handle. It looks absolutely lovely with red lava.

Aladdin was a highly themed beautiful Lava Lite and is often regarded by collectors as one of the three most highly themed lava lamps to have been created. Other nobable themed designs include the Saturna and the Mediterranean.

www.hippielight.com | Vintage GemLite Mystique Model 750 | The flow of a Vintage Mystique GemLite Glitter Lamp

In the 1970s, GemLite was introduced, a range of glitter lamps, these lamps really glittered like crazy. They featured a fast moving formulation which had beautiful pieces of silver reflective glitter inside the lamp. When the lamp was switched on the glitter would swirl beautifully in the lamp and would shimmer casting reflections on the surroundings. These lamps are very beautiful and extremely elegant.

Mystique Series 700, presents a sharp rectangular design described as: "Square and smart; its simplicity makes it one of the most sophisticated styles in our line" Internal supports within the square design support the bottle. Mystique was sold with two options: 700 (with the bubbling lava liquids) and 750 with the GemLite formulation.

Below one can see the Mystique model 750. These lamps also were sold with the bubbling formula as well as GemLite formula, in fact one side of the box showed the lamp with the lava liquids and featured the text: "the light of a million moving shapes that soothes intrigues fascinates entertains", " A Motion For Every Motion". The side that features GemLite glitter liquids features the text: "enjoy the newest visual sensation in environmental lighting ... thousands of floating silver flecks twinkle a multi-color hypnotic spell that charms and fascinates". Mystique uses a 30w intermediate (C-9) bulb.

www.hippielight.com | Continental Model 800 (Lava Version) & 850 (Glitter GemLite Version) Models | The flow of a Vintage Continental Electric "lava lamp"

The images below are dedicated to vintage models known as the Continental Series which were brought to market in the 1970s by Lava-Simplex. This particular lamp design featured the bubbling lava lamp liquids and also GemLite, which was Lava-Simplex's fast moving glitter formula (an adaptation of Crestworth's Living Jewel). A big thank you goes to El Metador for taking these wonderful photos of Continental featuring the lava liquids. This particular model features two small circular heat coils placed next to each other side by side, to generate the stunning lava flow for the lava model.

The Continental (seen below) featured an interestingly shaped bottle featuring round corners and was dimensionally very thin. This lamp featured an interesting base and cap which was cut at a slant offering a unique shape in the range. Please see the images below which show the lamp's construction and elegance. This design provides mystery to the movement of the liquids within and draws the eye into the lamp. The design is also very similar to a vintage French lamp produced by YENNI in Europe. Continental uses a 30w intermediate (C-9) bulb.

www.hippielight.com | The Windsor by Lava-Simplex & Glitterlite | A beautiful take on the ever-changing Consort design.

The Consort first appears in a 1966 Lava Corp brochure which is the first knowledge of Consort based lamps. The Consort was directly inspired by Crestworth's Cosmos design which features a pedestal base design with a tubular bottle. Over the decades Lava would go on to produce an impressive array of beautiful designs using the Consort bottle design, and some are radically different whilst some present little changes. The Consort bottle type was used in a diverse array of designs from Lava's Savoy & Continental candle powered designs to a wall mounted version known as Princess to even the beautiful Mediterranean.

The Windsor by Lava was the classic Consort but featured a beautiful circular slightly over-sized wooden base. Unlike more popular Consort designs which feature a wooden finished square base, The Windsor is one of the many different designs by Lava which used the Consort bottle. The Windsor was also offered with Lava's Glitterlite formulation which is particularly beautiful. The Windsor is a beautiful classic Lava Lite that reflects the beautiful design under the Hy Spector tenure of Lava-Simplex.

www.hippielight.com | KaleidoLite Go 'Round & KaledioLite Silver Spinner Kinetic Lights by Lava-Simplex ...

Lava-Simplex's KaleidoLite Go 'Round consisted of a circular 7" globe on a brass finished cup with a solid American walnut base similar to the stunning Regency lava lamp. KaleidoLite contains a series of colored lights which are programmed to flicker singly and in sequence shining their lights through a matrix that creates a veritable myriad of colored shapes and shadows. KaleidoLite was launched in on the 1st April 1968.

The KaleidoLite. "Weird, Wanton, Whimsical and Watch-able, Ripe for the "in" crowd and IN for the ripe crowd!", "A great commercial eye-catcher for stores, outlets of any kind that want to attract attention." So said the sales catalog about this odd non-liquid lamp, oddly enough introduced on April 1, 1968.

Lava-Simplex's KaleidoLite Silver Spinner was another clever product that features a beautiful metal base and a circular globe which sits on the base. Inside there is a standard lighting fitting and a spinning shade that sits on a needle and rotates simply via the heat generated from the bulb. As the shade rotates it casts coloured patterns on the surface of globe and beyond. This was one of their non-liquid kinetic lighting products.

It is a true psychedelic sensation! Photography kindly donated by Craig French, Frank and Jerome Dopson.

www.hippielight.com | Vintage Lava-Simplex Advertisements | Mediterranean lava lamp design by Lava-Simplex.

The Mediterranean is a beautiful vintage "lava lamp" featuring lovely wrought iron in deep lustrous black. Legs are formed by three Florentine scrolls. A vintage brochure displays Mediterranean in three colour combinations: 2942 Yellow Liquid and Orange Lava, 2943 Blue Liquid and Green Wax, 2946 Clear Liquid and Red Lava. The Mediterranean uses the same bottle as the Consort and other vintage "lava lamps".

The Mediterranean is described in vintage catalogue material as: "Exotic Spain inspires a creation with all the mystery of Aladdin's Lamp.

A hypnotic spell-binder designed for the Mediterranean mood" The cap of the Mediterranean vintage "lava lamp" was presented in an unapologetic matte black finish. Mediterranean was also seen with GemLite bottles, in later years.

www.hippielight.com | Presents The Wave Machine and Other Ideas by Lava-Simplex.

The Wave Machine was a completely new idea, invented by New York Motionetics and was subsquently acquired by Lava. The Wave features a vessel containing two different coloured liquids rocking up and down. When the Wave Machine is switched on, it creates the effect of waves rolling in and out of a shoreline and looks simply stunning to watch.

Other decorative lighting ideas include: The Silver Spinner, Kaleidolite, Starburst, The Infinite Motion Lite and the Liqua-Lite. The Infinite Motion Lite presents a "tunnel of moving lites" in a square frame. To describe the Starburst we turn to the words of Hy Spector to Edward Craven Walker:

"This is a crude photo of the single prototype of Starburst, the new model mentioned in my letter. Picture this in a riot of expanding, undulating, colour combinations. The colors constantly mix to give you possibly 6 to 8, ongoing, never ending colours, constantly blending ... - Hy"

www.hippielight.com | Lava-Simplex's Starburst Fiber Optic Design | 'A riot of expanding, undulating, colour combinations'

Below: Lava-Simplex, the iconic US manufacturer of the lava lamp also expanded into other forms of kinetic and decorative lighting. One such product was Starburst, a fiber optic light which when illuminated creates an ever-changing riot of colours on the front panel of the lamp. This clever lamp has fiber optics carefully arranged with a spinning colour wheel rotating in front of a light bulb within. The result is the color-changing light is transported to the ends of the plastic fibers, which can be seen on the face of the product.

Lava-Simplex's President, Hyman Milton Spector described Starburst to Edward Craven Walker as: "This is a crude photo of the single prototype of Starburst, the new model mentioned in my letter. Picture this in a riot of expanding, undulating, colour combinations. The colors constantly mix to give you possibly 6 to 8, ongoing, never ending colours, constantly blending ... - Hy"

The label reads: "STARBURST A fiber optics creation manufactured exclusively for Lava-Simplex Internationale Inc 1735 N. Ashland Ave Chicago Ill. 60622 U.S. Model S-900 A.C. 120 V. 60Hz 28 Watts UMC Electroptics Inc. PAT. NO. 3184872 E 0 51226 Caution: Maximum Lamp Size 15 Watts Replacement Bulb 15 Watts T7"

UMC Electroptics also produced illuminated fiber optic sign boxes utilised for advertising in shops or bar spaces. For example, we have seen one advertising Tuborg beer, and another advertising Kodak color film processing.

www.hippielight.com | Lava-Simplex's Lava Time Division | Clock Design and Manufacturing Division ...

Below: Lava-Simplex, the iconic US manufacturer of the lava lamp also expanded into other products. For example the Simplex division manufactured cartridge loading cameras and Lava also produced a range of clocks under their Lava-Time division. Below one can see an example of their Onyx clock, which features a simple piece of onyx with beautiful gold details and gold time hands. Other clocks seen by Lava-Simplex include pendulum clocks, a clock shaped as a book and an acrylic cube design designed for children.

www.hippielight.com | Poly-Optics Fiber Optic Designs | New Space Age Lighting | StarFlite and Golly Opticals ...

Below: Unlike Fantasia which prided themselves on designs which featured all glass fiber optic spray designs, Poly-Optics had a different take on fiber optic designs, with plastic optic designs that were often designed to be centre pieces of sculpted pieces of lighting design.

Their StarFlite range can be seen below which features products such as: Venus, Triad, Mercury, Mars II, Neptune, Saturn, Chantilly, La Trevi & Jupiter. Poly-Optics also featured a range for children called Golly Opticals which presented fiber optic designs in the form of a BUBBLES the smiling whale, adorable CLOWNS and BIMBO the happy elephant. Another idea was a fiber optic lamp in a kit form which allowed a fun way to create a beautiful fiber optic light. Poly-Opticals were based in Santa Ana, California and key personnel included Pres. Richard A. Demmer.

www.hippielight.com | The Lights Fantastic | Unique beautiful soft glowing Plexiglas lamps | Where sculpture meets light ...

The Lights Fantastic was a new concept in decorative lighting. Each lamp is an original ... no two exactly alike. Magnificent new art forms of Plexiglas glow softly from a concealed light source, creating an atmosphere of calming elegance when used as decorative accent pieces, TV lamps or night lamps.

Light sweeps and flows around the curves and loops, bursting out in beauty from the ends of slender "fire-sticks". Concealed replaceable 60-watt bulb and 3 color discs (warm red, cool blue and exciting amber) are included to change the lighting mood. They are marvelous free-form sculptures by day and shine in magnificent glory when lighted at night. With 6-foot cord and on-off switch. At one point these lamps were distributed by Lava-Simplex.

U.L. Approved. Enjoy the images below of The Lights Fantastic.